VERY, VERY OT Potatoes!!!

Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you get
the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24 hrs.
The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1 inch of
ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one or two snows
of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter has been
one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the least. And the dogs
are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a good cleaning
on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I have one large
sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What do I put in my stew
besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? Should I dare to chance
ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant potatoes in it
for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm really kinda bummed over this..... I
was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as 'Misery'
instead of Missouri!

Leslie, put in the sweet potato and get readyfor the happy surprise of
your day. Any place you can put regular potato you can put sweet
potato. The difference is subtle and wonderful.

Sunny

On Mar 3, 3:23*pm, "Leslie & The Furbabies in MO."
wrote:
Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. *I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you get
the picture. *So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24 hrs.
The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1 inch of
ice and 8-10 inches of snow. *Usually this part of MO. gets one or two snows
of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter has been
one nasty storm after the other. *I'm bummed to say the least. *And the dogs
are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a good cleaning
on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! *I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. *Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! *I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. *So, I have one large
sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. *What do I put in my stew
besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? *Should I dare to chance
ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant potatoes in it
for some potato taste? *Any ideas? *I'm really kinda bummed over this...... I
was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as 'Misery'
instead of Missouri!

Leslie,
My vote is the make the mashed potatoes and put the potato-less stew
over it like a gravy and eat it that way.

~Tricia~

That was going to be my vote too Tricia. I just made something with sweet
potatoes last week that didn't work out very well for us.

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Tricia in Petoskey" wrote in message
...
On Mar 3, 3:23 pm, "Leslie & The Furbabies in MO."
wrote:
Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you
get
the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24 hrs.
The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1 inch
of
ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one or two
snows
of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter has been
one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the least. And the dogs
are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a good cleaning
on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I have one
large
sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What do I put in my
stew
besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? Should I dare to
chance
ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant potatoes in it
for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm really kinda bummed over this..... I
was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as
'Misery'
instead of Missouri!

Leslie,
My vote is the make the mashed potatoes and put the potato-less stew
over it like a gravy and eat it that way.

~Tricia~

Certainly you can stir in some instant potato flakes! As to the sweet
potato, I would NOT put it into the stew. If you feel as though you
need a little "extra" for dinner, cook the sweet potato separately and
use it as a side dish.

Of course, if you happen to have a can of pie filling on hand, you can
make a "galatte" (I don't know the proper French spelling -- sorry!)
to serve for dessert after the dishes are done. All you do is make up
pie crust for a single crust pie, roll it out, slip it into a pie pan,
spoon the fruit from the can of pie filling into the middle of the
crust (leaving as much crust as possible fruit-free), and dot it with
butter. Now, begin folding the extra pie crust dough toward the
center, overlapping around the sides. You will probably have a "hole"
in the middle of the crust, and that's good as a steam vent. Bake it
as you would any fruit pie. A galatte is a rural French pie, and
probably a peasant dish -- everybody gets a little piece of heaven,
and you don't have to worry about making a beautiful top crust or
worry about edges burning. Most cans of fruit pie filling aren't
really enough for a pie, but you only need one for a galatte! One
suggestion I have is to spoon out at least half of the goo from the
fruit before you put it in the crust -- makes less goo, less mess, and
a better fruit flavor. Besides, the goo is almost pure sugar, and who
needs that?!? By the way, a galatte made with a single pie crust and
one can of pie filling will feed 4 people VERY generously, and 6
people very nicely. I often throw together a galatte with a can of
cherry pie filling, and people think I'm a genius.

I'd go for egg noodles or dumplings for a potato substitute. Sort of a
stew-y stroganoff or beef stew and dumplings. That sounds pretty comfortable
to me.

Val
"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you
get the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24
hrs. The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1
inch of ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one or
two snows of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter
has been one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the least.
And the dogs are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a
good cleaning on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I have one
large sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What do I put in
my stew besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? Should I dare
to chance ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant
potatoes in it for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm really kinda bummed
over this..... I was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for
dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as
'Misery' instead of Missouri!

I wouldn't be able to stand it. I'd have to go get a tater.

Course, I don't care if my car is dirty.

Cindy

"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you
get the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24
hrs. The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1
inch of ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one or
two snows of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter
has been one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the least.
And the dogs are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a
good cleaning on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I have one
large sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What do I put in
my stew besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? Should I dare
to chance ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant
potatoes in it for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm really kinda bummed
over this..... I was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for
dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as
'Misery' instead of Missouri!

Make the stew as you would normally (sans taters, of course) and then, whip
up the mashed taters and pile'em on top of the stew ... consider it a rich
man's Shepherd's Pie!!

Taters don't add *flavor* per se, to the stew, they add starch and help
thicken up the sauce/gravy (in fact, in some recipes, potatoes and other
starches help "filter" out flavor). So you're not missing anything in terms
of essential flavors in the cooking process ... though taters are super
nummy in the eatin'!!

As for using the sweet potato, I've done that and had good results -- that
being said, it's a matter of personal taste. For some, it'd be flavor
heaven, but for those *expecting* a potato-y taste and expecting the tater
to enhance the stew in a time-old fashion, it might be disappointing.
(Did any of that make sense??)

What I mean is that if you're used to "Such 'n' Such" tasting like "Such 'n'
Such," changing things a bit might not meet your expectations and therefore,
might not be comfort food!!

For me, comfort food is (please don't laugh!!) cornbread smothered in pinto
beans and butter!! Chicken 'n' dumplings is a VERY close second!!

Hugs!!
--
Connie
http://sewverycreative.blogspot.com


"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you
get
the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24 hrs.
The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1 inch
of
ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one or two
snows
of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter has been
one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the least. And the
dogs
are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a good cleaning

on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I have one
large
sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What do I put in my
stew
besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? Should I dare to
chance
ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant potatoes in it
for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm really kinda bummed over this.....
I
was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as
'Misery'
instead of Missouri!

Make your stew sans potatos, then mix up some of the instant potatos
and spread them over the top. Dot with butter or sprinkle with cheese
and slide it on into the oven just to brown the taters. Good excuse
to turn on the oven on a cold day.(G)

Of course if the stew is thin, then you want to stir in some of the
instant potatos to thicken it instead. If you wind up using fewer
roots in than you imagined, it sometimes happens that it comes out too
thin.

NightMist

On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 14:23:41 -0600, "Leslie & The Furbabies in MO."
wrote:

Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you get
the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24 hrs.
The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1 inch of
ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one or two snows
of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this winter has been
one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the least. And the dogs
are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the house a good cleaning
on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely sirloin
steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some stew. Got
the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered I have no
potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the garage and
into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I have one large
sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What do I put in my stew
besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery? Should I dare to chance
ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake some instant potatoes in it
for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm really kinda bummed over this..... I
was soooooo looking forward to fresh bread and stew for dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as 'Misery'
instead of Missouri!


--

Nothing has been the same since that house fell on my sister.

Yeah...noodles would work too! What time is supper? Maybe you could invite
someone over if they would bring a potato or two!

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Val" wrote in message
...
I'd go for egg noodles or dumplings for a potato substitute. Sort of a
stew-y stroganoff or beef stew and dumplings. That sounds pretty
comfortable to me.

Val
"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
Yesterday was gorgeous- 77 degrees and a blue sky with some pretty puffy
clouds. I spent all afternoon cleaning my truck- hand washed and dried,
vacuumed, glass all cleaned, chrome polished, inside reorganized... you
get the picture. So today is thunderstorms- tons of rain for the past 24
hrs. The storm is just now turning to sleet and snow- we are expecting 1
inch of ice and 8-10 inches of snow. Usually this part of MO. gets one
or two snows of 2-3 inches and only one ice storm each winter but this
winter has been one nasty storm after the other. I'm bummed to say the
least. And the dogs are tracking in tons of mud and I *finally* gave the
house a good cleaning on Friday- and now that's history.

On to the potatoes.... I need comfort food!!! I cut up two lovely
sirloin steaks (I don't eat much beef so that's all I had) to make some
stew. Got the meat browned and the bread machine started and discovered
I have no potatoes! I do NOT want to take my nice clean truck out of the
garage and into this muck and get it all covered in mud and salt. So, I
have one large sweet potato and a box of instant mashed potatoes. What
do I put in my stew besides the meat and carrots and onions and celery?
Should I dare to chance ruining it with the sweet potato or just shake
some instant potatoes in it for some potato taste? Any ideas? I'm
really kinda bummed over this..... I was soooooo looking forward to fresh
bread and stew for dinner.

Leslie & The Furbabies in yucky MISERABLE MO.- often referred to as
'Misery' instead of Missouri!